Battery industry in Bécancour | Ford plant construction site put on hold

The cathode factory built by Ford and its partners in Bécancour – one of the main projects in the battery sector – is subject to a significant slowdown, we have learned The Press. If the billionaire project is not compromised, its deadline is pushed back, and the bill risks rising.

A sign that there is sand in the gears, the construction manager, AtkinsRéalis (formerly known as SNC-Lavalin) announced to its subcontractors on Monday, abrupt changes awaiting them. .

“We ask you to kindly suspend, in a safe manner and while minimizing the resulting costs, the execution of the subcontracting work until you receive new instructions,” writes the Quebec engineering firm, in a missive that The Press was able to consult.

The Quebec multinational specifies in passing that its contract was not renewed for “reasons independent of (its) will and not linked to (its) performance”. She added that “additional instructions” would be “communicated in the coming days”. In a statement sent by email, the company assures that the “demobilization” will be carried out in a “professional” manner.

Announced last August by AtkinsRéalis, this agreement surrounding the “initial work” (initial design and project management) was worth approximately 140 million for the company. This was its first contract of its kind in the battery sector in the country. The president and CEO of the Montreal firm, Ian Edwards, even traveled to Mauricie as part of the press conference formalizing the project.

Question of process

Estimated at 1.2 billion, the cathode factory – the positive pole of a lithium-ion battery found in electric vehicles – is the result of a partnership between Ford and the Korean companies EcoPro BM and SK We. At the time of writing, the promoters had not responded to questions from The Press sent by email.

Quebec and Ottawa have been notified of the changes from Ford, EcoPro and SK On. In a statement, the Legault government affirmed that this step backwards by the American automobile manufacturer and its partners aimed to “analyze the best technological option”. The slowdown would therefore be attributable to the way of designing the cathodes, which represent around 40% of the cost of a battery.

“We have said it many times, cathode producers will adjust their installations as battery chemistry evolves,” indicates the office of the Minister of the Economy, Innovation and Development. Energy, Pierre Fitzgibbon. “Bécancour remains a site of choice for cathode producers. »

The two levels of government rolled out the red carpet to seduce the giant with the blue oval by granting total aid of 640 million, divided in equal parts. Part of Quebec’s aid must be provided through forgivable loans. There cannot be any conversion at the moment, given that the promoters do not respect the employment and investment thresholds, in particular.

Later

The plant, which was to be operational in 2026, was to create some 345 jobs, in addition to producing 45,000 tonnes of active cathode materials per year. This deadline will be pushed back by at least a year, according to what the CEO of EcoPro, Song Ho-jun, suggested on the sidelines of the annual meeting of the South Korean multinational, on 28 last March. Quoted by the daily The Korea Times, the businessman had openly mentioned delays, without however specifying a timetable. A project that falls behind schedule generally sees its bill rise, particularly due to inflation.

In the Bécancour industrial and port park, a plot of land measuring 280,000 square meters (3 million square feet) is to accommodate the cathode factory. This site is located north of Highway 30, opposite that of the joint venture formed by General Motors (GM) and POSCO – the other major cathode factory project in Quebec. The commissioning of this complex worth at least 600 million dollars is planned for next year.

Ford’s Quebec project is not the only one to be faced with unforeseen events. In Oakville, Ontario, the automobile giant announced on April 4 that the production of electric vehicles would be delayed until 2027. Quebec says that what is happening in Bécancour has nothing to do with this decision.

In the United States, Ford has also eased off by delaying billion-dollar projects in the electrification niche, notably in Michigan. Other players in the industry have also announced similar decisions. However, this did not prevent Honda from announcing an investment of 15 billion in Ontario last week to build four factories, including one for the assembly of electric vehicles.